10/19/2020; Differences in Emotional Expressivity

 

Like we've talked about for the last week, in a classroom setting, especially an English learning classroom, there will be a variety of cultural backgrounds. This can translate into quite a few interesting situations, but one that might happen often is a difference in emotional expressivity. Emotional expression can be defined in a number of ways, but Wikipedia defines it as: 

An emotional expression is a behavior that communicates an emotional state or attitude. It can be verbal or non-verbal, and can occur with or without self-awareness. Emotional expressions include facial movements like smiling or scowling, simple behaviors like crying, laughing, or saying "thank you," and more complex behaviors like writing a letter or giving a gift.

These are the expressions we use daily, from moment to moment. And they are, generally, deeply ingrained in us, but not something we remember learning. These are the difference between 

"Hi, how are you?" 

"Oh, I am doing well. How about yourself?" 

and 

"Hi, how are you?" 

"Oh, today has just been the pits! Everything is going wrong and nothing is going right and I shouldn't have even gotten out of my bed this morning!" 

Where you are raised, where your parents were raised, makes all the difference in these emotional expressions. And in a melting pot classroom, with all different cultures and backgrounds, these differences make all the difference. How one student being more outspoken, because their culture allows them to be more outspoken, can appear to another as being rude, or pushy. How one student being more quiet, because their culture tells them to be, can appear to another as being "holier than thou", or better than others. 

Your job as a teacher is to teach, but also to teach your students that the differences that make us different are the things that make us unique. We are better because we each bring something to the table from our culture, our upbringing. The quiet girl from Japan brings just as much to the classroom as the loud-spoken boy from Italy. How can you, as the teacher, help your students to understand each other, despite the differences between them?